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Legislative ACTION ALERT: Oppose new fertilizer restrictions THIS TUESDAY!
By Oregonians fro Food and Shelter
SB 747 [6], put forward by a Southeast Portland legislator, would require every landowner in the state with more than 200 acres of irrigated agricultural land to register and annually report fertilizer use, with a goal of having the Oregon Department of Agriculture “identify persons who are overapplying fertilizer” and impose civil penalties for violations.
This bill has been scheduled for a hearing next Tuesday February 4th at 1pm in the Senate Committee
on Natural Resources and Wildfire. Agricultural groups have NOT been engaged on this bill concept and we had no notice of this bill’s hearing ahead of it getting scheduled for a hearing next week. We ask you to please engage in-person if possible, we need producers to show up and testify in strong opposition to this bill!
- Fertilizer is a very expensive input, with costs skyrocketing in recent years. Producers are already disincentivized from applying more than is needed.
- Fertilizer rates vary widely based on crop and soil type, weather, and a list of other factors. Rates alone cannot determine overapplication, and there is no standardized guidance on rates based on the variety of factors that impact nutrient needs and uptake. Agronomic rates vary even between different varieties of the same crop.
- The concept as drafted reflects a lack of understanding of both crop nutrition science and groundwater impacts.
- 200 acres is an arbitrary number with no connection to data or evidence.
- What is being proposed here is a multi-million dollar program that would not yield the information suggested in the bill language.
- This issue deserves a robust discussion with producers and experts (and producers as experts), not a misguided concept put together in a vacuum by urban legislators who have no background in agriculture.
Register to testify here [6], click on “Register to Testify” for in-person, or “Submit Testimony” to upload written testimony.
Other Legislative Updates
This week, OFS submitted a letter [7] on HB 2809 [8], which if passed, will authorize Oregon Department of Agriculture to increase the cap on pesticide registration fees, from $400 to $550. We expressed our concerns about the extent to which fee funds have been shifted away from core agency services, essentially using our members’ registration fees to subsidize a variety of agency programs, some of which we have ongoing unaddressed concerns with.
Lawmakers are once again seeking to understand the occurrence of chemicals in biosolids applied to agricultural land and crops. HB 2947 [9] directs Oregon State University to study PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances) in soils and crops where biosolids have been applied. Based on the potential and unnecessary reputational impacts to Oregon agriculture, OFS opposes this concept and will encourage focus and investments on solutions, which are targeted at addressing PFAS contamination before it enters wastewater streams. This bill is scheduled for a hearing
on HB 2947 on February 10 [10]th [10] in House Committee On Agriculture, Land Use, Natural Resources, and Water.
Also this week, OFS joined our partners in a meeting with Rep. Zach Hudson and Beyond Toxics to discuss their efforts to limit access to neonicotinoid products (HB 2679 [11]), where we raised questions about the intent and justification for the bill. We will continue to advocate for science and evidence-based policies related to the tools Oregon producers use and need to grow food and fiber.